Straw-gutter



J. H. BENNETT.

. I Straw Cutter. I I I N0. 12.407. Patenied FebLZO. 1855.

NITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

' JAMES H. BENNETT, OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT.

STRAW-GUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that 1, JAMES H. BENNETT, of Bennington, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Straw-Cutters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accom- ,panying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1, is an isometrical perspective view of a straw cutter constructed after my invention, the knife stock being elevated. Fig. 2, is a vertical section of the same through the line 01:, w, in Fig. 1, the knife stock being lowered.

Wherever the same letters of reference occur in the two figures they are intended to designate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to an improvement in that description of straw cutter employing a straight knife set in a lever which is raised and lowered by hand in the arc of a circle and made to operate in combination with a stationary steel guard arranged on the discharge end of the trough, said improvement being designed to simplify the construction, increase the utility, and lessen the labor of operating suclf straw cutters, as will be presently shown.

The nature of my invention consists in so arranging a flat spring over the front part of the said oblong vertical slot and arranging and beveling the knife, that when the knife lever is lowered the knife will be caused to bear upon the upper side of said spring, and the underside .of the lever against the top of the same. By this ar-' rangement, as the knife is lowered lateral pressure is exerted upon it and it is kept close up to the steel guard and made to perform the cutting operation perfectly and in case of clogging is capable of yielding slightly, and also after the cutting is performed upward. pressure is exerted upon it and consequently a portion of the labor 12,407, dated February 20, 1855.

usually expended in raising it saved. It is a double acting spring in combination with it beveled knife that constitutes my inven- To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to descrlbe its construction and operation.

A, B, represent the main frame; B the trough'having a steel guard 0, secured on its discharge end. This trough is set loosely in a seat formed in the part A, and secured by a screw, it being thus arranged so that it may be detached when it is desired to transport the machine.

C, is the oblong slot in the main timber B, of the frame; D is the knife stock and E, the knife; F, is the fulcrum upon which the stock turns. The knife is beveled at a, as shown, and is arranged on the inner side of the stock.

G, is the double acting spring secured tothe solid part of-the timber B, at b, and overhanging the slot C, as shown. There is a small wedge shaped space between the inner edge of the spring and the guard a, for thebeveled part of the knife to work in as it is raised and lowered. It is the making of the knife bevel and havingvit work in said space that the spring is caused to exert lateral pressure and it is by. arranging the knife on the side of the stock that the underside of the stock is allowed to come in contact with the top of the spring and the spring caused to exert upward pressure.

. What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The use and arrangement of the double acting spring'in combination with the arrangement and beveled shape of the knife iubtsfiantially'as and for the purpose set Witnesses:

LEwIs CADY, WM. H. OADY. 

